Eduard 1/48
CH-53E Interior Detail Set

Eduard from the Czech Republic is easily the most prolific producer of aftermarket details. Period. Their series of photo-etched detail sets have brought additional fidelity to otherwise bland subjects, and have taken even the best-produced models and kicked them up a notch or two with details that cannot be produced with injection-molded plastic.

When Eduard first introduced the acetate-printed instrument faces that go behind their photo-etched instrument panels, this raised the bar on model cockpit reality as you could almost read the time on the aircraft clock. How could they top that?

It took a number of years, but the answer is color photo-etch. Somehow Eduard has developed a process for printing color directly on their photo-etched parts such that now you not only can read the instrument faces, you can now see the color warning arcs around airspeed indicators and color reference circles around Luftwaffe flight and engine instruments.

In this release, Eduard has produced a set of photo-etched details for the magnificent Academy/MRC 1/48 CH-53E Sea Stallion kit.

This set consists of four frets of photo-etched details, three of which have color printing on them. You can browse through the high resolution images to the right (click on one to see the large image) to see how fine the color printing has become.

The details include new cockpit sidewalls, details for the rear of the crew seats as well as seatbelts and harnesses, new center and overhead consoles, and a beautiful new instrument panel. The pre-printed color on the consoles and panel really make the cockpit come to life!

In addition, the set provides new surface detail for the cargo ramp, the two M2 machine guns, and stowage racks for the interior of the main cabin. Take a look at the color instructions for more information.

While this set will really set off the detail in the CH-53E kit, this detail set is not for the beginning modeler. You will need to be able to remove the photo-etch parts from their frets (simple once you know how) and then be able to apply these details using cyano adhesives without gluing yourself to the kit parts. It isn't difficult, or else these sets wouldn't be so popular.

You should be able to find this detail set at your local hobby retailer or one of the many online hobby shops. Trust me, this is worth looking for!

Recommended for experienced modelers!

My sincere thanks to Eduard for this review sample!